


Overwatch University

by IAmTheUltimateGleek



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: College AU, F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-05-19
Updated: 2016-10-16
Packaged: 2018-06-09 12:22:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 10,963
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6907078
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IAmTheUltimateGleek/pseuds/IAmTheUltimateGleek
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"You're such a foolish girl."</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Foolish

It doesn't matter how kind, or patient, or sweet a person may seem on the outside. 

There was always a limit or metaphorical line, that when stepped over just far enough, could detonate like any other explosive human quality.

Some, the lucky few, had remarkable capabilities when it came to holding back those feelings. 

They could bite their tongues, smile the most charming of smiles, and brush off the onslaught of vile backlash that awaited on the tips of their tongue like nothing more than a fuzzy particle of dust that had breezed onto their shoulders.

They could be patient and wait until they were safely behind closed doors before releasing an onslaught of profanities into a pillow for a total of two minutes. Then simply go right back out into the world with a sparkle in their eye that charmed masses as wide as the red sea.

Some people were just that good at hiding their rage, or at least coping with it healthily.

Lena Oxton was one of those rare people.

Her girlfriend, Willow Lacroix, was not.

To its credibility, curtsey of massive advertisements plastered on every billboard along the west coast, Overwatch University was a phenominal institution. Nationally recognizable by insignia alone, awarded top tier government grants, and positively enormous in size. 

The three main campuses housed the major criteria points that every student knew would fair par to none when held against any other school in the nation. Business, Arts and Humanities, and Pre Law/Pre Med. Each was a fair walking distance apart and yet somehow managed to cover an ungodly amount of acres.

What this meant for most students was that on the more pleasant Californian days, a stroll from one school to the next, depending on class scheduling and how unlucky you were to be on the very ends of each campuses borderlines, was prime time to get in a nice stroll or leisurely jog.

On this bright afternoon however almost every student who happened to be unfortunate enough to be walking down the same pathway as Willow Lacroix found themselves faced with a glare cold enough to send them scurrying off back the way they came. 

Tardiness to classes be damned. Better to be late and live rather than die by taking a risk at going near the clear red flashing light of "DANGER WALKING THREAT IN HEELS".

The young french women was wearing an expression only a handful of seniors knew by rumor alone. The whispered about gaze told through drunk frat tales. It was said to be the equivalent of a venomous bite, to which there was no hope of recovery. 

This was of course overdramatized by a bunch of fire hazard beer soaked fraternity brothers who still held somewhat of a grudge over being so brutally turned down by Willow while on the recieving end of said glare, so to be fair the authenticity was questionable.

A few clear chimes coming from Willow's back pocket did little to deter the dark haired women's long strides. Without even pausing to check the caller ID, the senior girl answered with a huff. 

"What?"

"If you would stop hanging up every five seconds and let me explain-"

It was Angela. Again.

The blonde had made it her life mission, within the past ten minutes, to try and calm Willow down over the phone.

Only to get an immediate call ended after each attempt.

"I already told you I'm on my way."

"Im aware, however you are stressing yoursef and your sister out well past what anyone here can call reasonable."

Her sister. Leave it to her twin, Ameile, to take twenty-two unanswered text messages as something to worry over.

"Tell her I'm fine."

"Doubt it's you she's scared for, rather the dozens of innocent freshman you've probably traumatized by now."

Angela had an awful tendency of calling things despite not being there to see them. 

It was only one freshman, and they shouldnt have been glued to their phone screen while walking anyways. Willow doubted there would be so much as a scratch on their head given that she had shouldered them towards the grass rather then pavement.

But Angela nor Ameile didn't need to know about that.

Suddenly a very familiar male voice could be heard through Angela side of the line, and Willow felt the blood drain from her face.

"Angie? Lena wants to know if it's too early to have the cookies Gerard brought over? She is-"

The blonde seemed to be arguing with someone momentarily before the sound of a door closing blocked out any more background noise.

Willow hadn't even realized how dry her throat had become in such a short amount of time.

"Was that Winston?! Why is he there? You said it wasn't serious!"

"...I said that because you can be a large you know what when stressed out."

"Are you saying it IS serious?"

Willow could practically hear Angela moving to pinch the bridge of her nose in exasperation.

"Not in the slightest. But it is better to be safe than sorry. It was a pretty nasty fall and they are checking her vitals as we speak. Winston is here as her friend, and Dr. Harold already stated that it is nothing to stress over."

"Then why are you calling every five seconds?"

"Because I don't even have to see you to know you're ready to burn down a city block."

It was an obvious attempt at making the situation even the barest degree lighter, that failed almost pitifully predictably so.

Before Willow could think of any kind of response though, her hazel eyes caught sight of where she had arrived.

The East Campus Medical Center.

Without missing a beat, Willow moved through the glass doors of the entranceway. Already having the layout of where she needed to be burned into the forefront of her mind. Her phone pressed tightly against the edge of her soulder and her ear. 

Unfortunately, the door she had practically thrown open with both arms ended up colliding violently into an unprepared member of the swim team's back. Knocking the boy a few solid feet to the left as he struggled to regain his balance.

"Watch it!"

Hazel eyes turned, for one horrifying second, nearly golden with rage as Willow sneered back at the young man.

She had no time, nor desire, to be pleasant today.

"Christ what's got your panties in a twist Widowmaker-"

The "nickname" was cut off with a sharp yelp. The swim team member suddenly found himself on the ground clutching onto his bruising shin as a large array of swear words fell from his lips.

Served him right. Everyone with more then half a braincell knew how she hated to be called that.

Willow didn't even spare the pitiful sight a second glance as she moved to grasp her phone in her right hand again.

"Sorry Ang, could you repeat what you just said?"

"Was that just...you know what never mind. I don't wanna know. I said were in room 519."

The startled receptionist, who had watched the past thirty seconds of extreme hostility unfold, barley had a moment to breathe before Willow tilted her phone away long enough to glare daggers straight through her soul.

"H-hello Miss Lacroix. It's been a while since we've seen you-"

"Lena Oxton. How's her condition?"

"I-I don't um-she's back in-"

Willow lost what barely remained of her patience and moved to tap her perfectly manicured nails against the countertop. The expression nearly venomous with a waiting air of "any day now". The terrified woman noticed immediately when it was time to shut up and pressed the buzzer unlocking the safety latch leading towards the patient's rooms in the back.

Willow managed a half hearted "merci" before she was through the second set of glass doors. 

The receptionist didn't dare try to call out to her to come back with any identification or sign in signature. Miss Lacroix was already in every other week and had made more than a lasting impression as the medical staff's less than favorite guest.

Not that she could really hold any ill will against the girl. After all, if her lover was under those circumstances she would be high strung too.

In less then a minute Willow was striding down the hallway with Angela still chatting away idly in her ear. 

The blonde was listing off tons of positive and irrelevant thing in the hopes of preventing any further, from what she could tell over the phone, aggressive yet typical behavior from Lena's girlfriend.

"Honestly Willow, she is fine. She's been cracking jokes with the nurses all day and even got Winston and Gerard to play- oh look. You just turned the corner and are coming towards me. With a look of pure unadulterated hostility. Lovely, truthfully, ill be sure to remember this exact moment in my nightmares tonight. Amazing how terrifying it is to see my life flash-"

Willow pressed End Call before Angela could finish. To which the blonde narrowed her gaze before gently placing her phone back into her residential scrubs pocket and moving to fully stand in front of the doorway. Her arms crossed with no trace of any lightheartedness that had been preached over the phone.

"Move."

"Hello to you too. I'm glad to see you made it here without any alerts about a mad woman igniting the campus ablaze popping up in my news feed."

Despite how obviously sarcastic Angela's accent was, Willow dared to try and glare down the Swiss woman in the hopes that she would relent quickly. Only to find, unsurprisingly, that this had little to no effect.

"Angela-"

"She. Is. Fine. And I am not letting you in there until you calm down."

The two stared each other down, and despite their difference in height, Angela still mangaed to match the intensity of Willow's glare with an equal one of her own. 

You didn't make it into the top medical program in the nation with a weak will.

"You look like youre trying to burn a hole through my head"

"Is it working?"

The sharp quip only confirmed Angela's point further. 

Willow held the other's gaze for a moment longer before slumping her shoulders forward with a heavy and tired sigh and taking a needed step back.

Her nails had nearly left indents in her palms from how tightly she had had them clenched over the past ten minutes.

Moving to push herself against the nearest wall, the dark haired woman closed her eyes and brought a single hand up to rub circles against the tense knots already forming deep in her neck.

"I'm not crazy to worry. You of all people should understand that."

Genuine concern cracked through the remnants of the blonde's stoney facade before she too let her arms drop. 

Angela always had a look of tiredness in her eyes that went far beyond any normal college student. Normal being that while yes caffeine and all nighters made up about 80% of the average student body, Angela Ziegler's eyes were tired in the sense of being weighed down with reality. The kind of bright, and yet so clearly flickering, pain that could only be held by someone who lost too much, felt too much, cared too much, and yet continued to smile.

The blonde Pre-Med was strong. That was no secret to anyone who spoke to her for more then five seconds. But whenever she ended up here, facing the women who knew the same feeling that constricted her heart whenever the words "hospital" and "Lena" were mentioned in the same sentence, Angela remembered just how young they all still were. How much it hurt to love.

"Of course I do...but you know she hates it when you get stressed over her condition."

"She's doesn't want me to worry about her wellbeing. How like her."

There was no real malice left in her words, and before Angela could reach forward to offer any sort of comfort, the door to Lena's room opened enough for Amelie to squeeze through.

"Winston I swear to god if she tries to stand one more time I want you to- Willow! About damn time!"

Amelie gave her sister a quick hug before practically shoving her towards the doorway. Mumbling about 'taking forever to get here' and 'the poor girl wont stop asking if you're okay or not'. 

However just as the two were about to enter, Winston's head popped out of the open space.

The burly young man's glasses were always somehow tilted almost a little too much to the left, and despite his intimidating height, he always seemed to be like the warmest prescense amoung all of their friends.

"Glad you finally made it. Tracer's been going nuts, worried that she made you worry because of how worried you were making Ang."

"...That seems almost cruelly ironic."

Winston chuckled despite himself and he ran a large hand through his unruly mess of hair. Then without even needing to be asked, the big loaf moved to side step and finally allow Willow to enter the room.

"Try not to chastise her too much. Angie already gave her an earful"

"ouais ouais ouais, je l'ai"

Ameile smiled softly at her twin before closing the door to allow the two some private time.

It was basically the same spread as every other visit. Light blue walls, big single window perched out to view the East Campus court yard below. 

And just like every other time, there was Lena, sitting upright. Fiddling around with one of the many machines at her bedside as though it was the most fascinating gadget in the world.

Truth be told, the brunette had a rather bad habit of messing with things she shouldn't and by now Willow was less than surprised whenever she found her girlfriend meddling.

"If you break yet another monitor, I'll make them sedate you."

The younger women's head snapped to attention instantly at the sound of her lover's voice. As always, a wide grin broke over Lena's face as her arms spread open. Awaiting a hug she knew she would never be denied.

"'At last the cavalry arrives! Miss me, love?"

Willow's heart always managed to stutter a bit whenever Lena spoke as though they hadn't just seen each other that morning upon waking up in the same bed. It somehow was always like they were meeting again after too long apart.

The dark haired woman wasted no time before sliding straight up into the smaller girl's open arms and placing a gentle kiss on the latter's forehead.

"I can't leave you alone for even an hour can I?"

"Seems not. Maybe you should stay extra close to me from now on just to be safe?"

Lena jokingly patted the space next to her on the hospital bed, but Willow was already slipping back into protective girlfriend mode now that she was certain her beloved was alive and well. 

"Chivalry will get you no where, Chérie. Now why dont you tell me what exactly happened before I make Winston rat you out like last time."

The hand that had been soothingly running itself through Lena's hair moments ago now had a rather intimidating hold on the brunette's locks. Forcing the smaller girl's head upwards to lock onto Willow's gaze. Unavoidable and dangerous.

Lena's face always turned a nice shade of pink whenever Willow did this particular action, though they were usually under far more ideal circumstances. Never the less the younger of the two knew when to wave a white flag.

"Zarya and I weren't doing anything extreme I swear."

Well that's always a good way to start.

"I wasn't watching where I was going and slipped onto the edge of the bench. My chest got most of the impact and I told her I was fine, but she carried me here anyways. A bloody spectacle that was, half the west side probably thinks I'm a right sack of potatoes."

Willow made a mental note to have Angela thank the god sent Russian later, but for now her focus was on Lena and Lena alone. Like a frantic doctor, the French woman began checking for any sign of damage no matter how small.

"Did the doctors test you for a concussion yet? Is the Accelerator still in tact? Dr. Harold said if anything seems off to-"

"-call him ASAP. I know, love. I was there too. It's okay, Im okay. They already ran all the tests and everything's checked out. The Accelerator is perfectly stable and Im in tip top shape, cross my heart."

To prove her point even further Lena made a joking show of flexing her arms much like a body builder would. Forcing Willow's lips to turn upwards slightly. Against her will mind you, she was still mad.

"You are such a foolish girl."

"Only for you, love."

Suddenly, Willow pulled back just far enough from Lean's grasp to point a finger directly at her nose, to which the small Brit crossed her eyes with a teasing smile.

"This is still no laughing matter, Chérie."

"If we don't laugh how will I see that smile you do that I love so much?"

Willow internally screamed at herself to remain strong, even as she leaned down far enough to cup Lena's head just so their gazes could lock again. Softer this time. 

There was an unquestionable weakness that always flashed within the older woman's golden irises whenever she was scared. 

Lena knew all too well how desperately and relentlessly her girlfriend searched for a reason to not show this fear. How much it hurt for her to have to show this side.

"Please Lena, you can not ever tell me not to worry...I can not live with the thought of your heart failing...Not after...."

There was a beat. Then another, before the smaller of the two moved to remove Willow's hands away from her face so that she could wrap her arms around the French woman's waist. Hugging her close despite the odd angle. 

"I'm not going anywhere, love. I promise."

For a long while the two simply stayed there. Wrapped in each other's embrace as the dark haired woman's hand returned to it's rightful job of running itself through Lena's short locks. 

This was familiar. This situation that borderlined countless years of tears and a majority of their arguments. There was something safe in each other that they both needed, but there was also a constant stress each held out on towards one another. 

It wasn't just about The Heart Accelerator. It wasn't just about the dangers and risks they each took every night by falling asleep and wasting minutes and hours that could not be there tomorrow.

It was moments like these, where the world around them could fall into ash, and yet they would remain safe, loved, and tightly held in an embrace that outlasted fate. And even the thought of death.

Suddenly Willow pulled back just far enough to recapture Lena's attention. She gazed down at her girlfriend for a peaceful moment that ended with a sharp thwach to the Britt's forehead.

"Bullocks! What was that for?"

"No track practice today or tomorrow. You are resting and coming straight back to the apartment after they clear you."

"What! But Willo-"

A sharp tug on her short hair was enough to cut Lena's rebuttal off with a squeak.

"Not up for debate Chérie. I personally-"

Willow leaned down to ghost her lips against the shell of Lena's ear. Patient and well practiced enough to send visible shutters down her younger woman's spine.

"-would like to see for myself if you are still able to keep up."


	2. Late Night Stress

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> More on the friends this chapter

"Okay Lena, I need you to try and explain this to me one more time. How on earth...did you manage to get 44.527 as an answer?"

"I. Don't. Know."

A serious of thuds from Lena's head hitting the table punctuated each word. Winston was at a loss between stopping her or doing the same himself.

He had tried, truthfully he really had tried, to keep all of the exasperation out of his tone. However after 7 straight hours of nothing, but repeating the same problems over and over and over again his patience was more than rung through the mental wringer.

"It's not even within the possible range of outcomes! And we just went over Schrödinger's studies two days ago, I even sent you my notes."

The farther on Winston read through the practice problems he had printed out for Lena, the more his mind seemed to boggle about. His hope was that by cutting and recrossing every possible wire in his mind, he would somehow manage to see how Tracer had gotten to Point A to Point 76.

So far no luck.

"Did you even take in the details of the wave packet?"

"Yes Winston."

"What about the length of time that had passed between-"

"Yes Winston."

"Then what- for christ's sake! What did you do to the probability's density of mass?!

The constant string of red pen hitting paper made Lena run both her hands through her hair. Musing it into fistfuls of frustrated puffs that practically stood straight up.

"I don't know! I used the formula just like you said, but it got all jumbled and I just-"

The brunette let out a frustrated series of unintelligible groans before resuming her assault against the mahogany.

What would dent first? Her head or the surface? Well that was for fate to decide.

Winston removed his glasses long enough to rub his tired eyes hard enough to see swirling colors overtake his vision. 

Patience was a virtue, he kept reminding himself. He loved Lena dearly, he would not strangle her. He would remain strong.

"You'll get the hang of it. Physics is hard on everyone."

"Says the genius."

The burly man gave a deadpan laugh before reaching across the table to flick at the brunette's head.

"Flattering will get you no where."

"Says you, flattering got me a beautiful french girlfriend."

Winston snorted once before tossing his pen cap at the brunette's cheeky grin. 

"Well unless said girlfriend decides to take it upon herself to hack the school's database and change your grade, flattery will in fact get you nowhere."

The two paused for a moment, before Winston righted his glasses. His tone grave.

"She wouldn't actually do that...right?"

Lena actually had to pause for a moment before giving a relieved sigh.

"Nah, love. She's not big on cheating for grades. Besides you or Sombra's are probably the only ones who could get past the firewalls."

"Fair enough. Though Sombra far out matches me in that respect."

The brunette gave a snicker before raising her head high enough to give her best friend a playful glare.

"ONLY in that respect. According to the school board, you are the valedictorian here. So consider me calling you a genius more a statement than an compliment."

She had a point. Not that Winston would ever admit it though.

"Don't be a smarts and derail the conversation. Come on, let's get back to looking over these." 

Lena immediately returned her focus back towards the table. Her spark of momentary teasing gone with a single groan.

Maybe if she banged her face against it enough times she could finally go to sleep rather then hear more x's scribble across her work.

"Aw come on Lena! It's better then Tuesday's score."

"By like 3%."

Winston shrugged.

"Still better. At this rate I think its possible for you to get a high C come midterm."

The brunette suddenly increased her self inflicted blunt force trauma to the head. 

"Wonderful. Three months from now I may have a chance at scoring in the average percentile. Woohoo."

Before the larger man could try and offer more condolences, the sudden clamor of a loud speaker blasting drew the duo's attention towards the foyer. 

Neither hadn't even realized the time. The concert had probably ended at least an hour ago.

The squeak of the apartment door opening and re-locking echoed through out the otherwise empty space along with the sudden increase of an amped up dubstep beat. Along with it came many familiar voices.

Lucio, Hana, Angela, Mei, and Gerard suddenly stumbled in towards the kitchen. Each holding an abundance of glow sticks and rally towels. If the barely present stench of beer was anything to go off of, they all had had a good time.

Lucio's personalized speaker quickly shut down upon Hana noticing the two other occupants.

"Oh my god! I'm so glad you guys are still up! You totally should have come, it was ridiculous, Luc's got the best hookup for these concerts I swear. We were practically five feet away from the stage it was insane! Mei got dizzy from the strobe light half of the show, but everything else was so cool! Like the DJ was amazing and we almost got Ang lifted into a crowd surf! But then she realized what was happening and got super mad and one of the guards tried to help get-OH i forgot! Look we got you guys t-shirts!"

D.Va only ever hyper rambled when it came to three circumstances. A big gaming tournament was coming up, Lucio hooked them up with free tickets to sold out shows via his "connections", or she was on a sugar high from hell.

Winston knew well enough to tell this was a lethal mix of cases 2 and 3. Mercy met his eyes from over where she stood, nodding gravely, as though she had read his mind.

"Winston, we got you the one with the synth mix and Lena we found this one with a cool kinda time clock thing...Tracer? Did the table offend you or are you just trying to break it with your face for fun?"

With his arms stretching upward, Winston yawned before dragging one of his large calloused hands down his face. The exhaustion was hitting him like a train now that he was aware of how late, early, it was.

"She's just stressed. It's only been a month into her last year and our physics professor's been grilling her for no reason."

Gerard, with his bright flashing rave necklace still bumping to an unheard beat, gave a reaffirming nod as he moved to plop himself down across from Lena. Seeing him in "normal" clothing was quite the contrast against his usual clean cut appearance, but Winston was too tired to tease him on it.

"Don't get me started on Professor Asshat. He has had it out for Trace since day one. I swear that old fuc-"

Mercy narrowed her eyes before clearing her throat loudly and nodding her head over towards Hana and Lucio in a less than subtle manner.

"Language."

Gerard held up his hands before giving Angela one of his typical dazzling "this will get me out of trouble" smiles. The kind that made the scruff along his face and pearly white teeth seem like the most forgiving aspects of mankind.

"Aw come on now Ang, they are only two years younger than the lot of us. I'm sure they've heard worse than me."

Mercy didn't even blink. Rather her eyes seemed to only narrow further. 

Law school practices of composure and holding a poker face had nothing on a single look of warning from The Angela Ziegler.

The dark skinned man knew when to surrender less the authorities never locate his body.

"Okay okay sorry, doc. Jokes aside though I'm not lying. Man's got some grudge against Trace and calls her out for the most random shi-...stuff."

Winston nodded in agreement before peering over at his roommate with a dramatic wave of his hand.

"Rumor has it he's giving a surprise exam tomorrow."

A loud groan from Lena made Hana and Lucio chuckle a bit, before Mei and Angela's disapproving glares shot them both down.

Gerard snickered a bit before reaching to put his hand on top of Tracer's.

"He's just kidding. No need to worry so much, kiddo. You do you're work and stay focused and it'll be over before you know it."

"It's not even October yet."

"And yet here you are stressing over the small stuff."

Lena didn't even crack a smile.

"You know how to find the angular momentum of a quantized energy base. I don't."

Lucio tilted his head to the side like that of a confused puppy.

"Firstly that sounded ridiculously made up, like what? Secondly, is this what Senioritis looks like?"

"Nope, love, this is what me wallowing in my own stupidity looks like."

For Lena Oxton to be so genuinely annoyed and bitter was a rarity in its own right. One that made almost all of them glad that Willow was out of state for the next few days for a gymnastics tournament. 

No outside communication or distractions allowed unless the coach deemed it an emergency. 

A fact that was probably only adding on to Lena's sour mood. 

Lucio moved to rest one of his hands down on top of his fellow track mate's shoulder. Giving it a good shake to try and rouse the British girl back up.

"Calling yourself dumb aint gonna help."

More thuds.

"It makes ME feel better."

The brunette's assult was suddenly met with a firm, yet friendly, hand of resistance. Resting against her forehead and what few inches remained between it and banging into the table for what must have been the hundredth time. 

"Enough."

Angela gently lifted Lena's limp head high enough for Mei to hand over one of the couch pillows and place it underneath. Effectively stopping anymore damage.

"You'll get a concussion at this rate."

"Good. If I'm concussed then I wont have to string up my hopes and dreams of graduating until finals."

Gerard snorted, but quickly held up his hands in defense when Mercy shot him a raised brow. Winston nodded over to his roommate with a knowing grin before making a throat slice motion with his finger.

"Strike two. Careful before she grounds you."

Lucio and Hana couldn't help but laugh at that. Mei thankfully beat Mercy to the punch by flicking them both in the ear.

Angela gave a pleased nod at their shared chorus of "OW!" Before she refocused her attention on Lena.

"Why not call it a night?"

"I'll rest when I understand quantum mechanics. Or when I'm dead. Whichever comes first."

A new voice suddenly popped in from hall entrance.

"Well in that case you may already be on your way, darlin."

McCree came into the kitchen in his typical fashion of a lazy saunter. Despite being in his boxers and a large night shirt, there was still a cigar already lit and at his lips. 

"Did they pull ya from under a car or something, Oxton? No offense, but you look like death."

Lena lifted her head high enough for McCree to see her deadpan expression.

"Oh no Jess please. Don't hold back. Tell me how you really feel."

"I'm just teasin. Now come on, no sacks in my apartment. Either smile or boot it."

Lena gave a visibly forced grin as McCree scoffed.

"There see, that wasn't so hard."

"Suck it Western Woody. I'm allowed to mope and wallow when I please."

With that Tracer returned her face to her pillow with a grumble.

Jesse was about to step forward further into the kitchen, but suddenly fond himself being pushed out the way he came.

Angela's hands were physically forcing him back.

"No no no! Out! You are not smoking in here. Go put that cigar out now!"

"Wha- this is my apartment!"

"Amazing. Well see these are several heathy people with uncontaminated lungs that do not need to inhale your second hand smoke. Now either toss it or march!"

With a finger poking directly into the center of his chest, McCree only had to consider his options for a total of two seconds before grumbling out a string of too soft to hear curse words. 

He came back seconds later, cigar free.

"I swear 'Mercy' is too kind to a contact name for you woman. Ruthless or Scary. Those are fittin names..."

Mei gave a soft laugh before nudging Angela's side.

"Or how about Dr. Party Drunk?"

The blonde's face reddened slightly before a ripple of laughter echoed against the apartment walls. Each of her friends were suddenly clutching at their sides as the memory of their summer mishaps seemed to replay vividly for them all.

Even Lena's shoulders seemed to move in silent giggles.

"ONE TIME. It happened once!"

McCree held up the number 6 with his hands before another round of laughter broke through again.

Winston interjected gently while holding his hand to his chin in thought.

"To be fair, Morrison is the one who thought 'Mercy' would be a fitting title. Personally I think that 'Breaks a Window while Singing Beyonce' is a better fit."

Now everyone was genuinely cracking up. 

The amount of times poor Pharah had ended up carrying her girlfriend home was getting too high to count. Not that anyone truly minded, they were too adorable a couple to find the constant habit annoying in the slightest.

Plus Angela's constant drunk desire to sing as loudly as possible didn't hurt the humor aspect either.

McCree was the first to relent in his chuckling and move to pat the embarrassed blonde's shoulder.

"We've all had our moments, cupcake."

"Do not call me-"

"Uhg fine, Dr. Cupcake. Happy? Now look here you got Miss Moody to crack a bit."

All of the attention focused back to Lena, who during the shared bouts of laughter had lifted her head high enough for her friends to see the familiar smile that had been gone too long from her face.

Jesse moved to plop himself down besides Tracer and ruffle a hand through her already unruly locks.

"Now that you're not playing dead man no more, mind tellin me why you all woke me up over quantum somethin?"

The brunette's puffed one of her fallen bangs out of her sight before leaning to swat away Jessie's hand.

"Not much to say. The class is rubbish and I'm gonna fail."

"That's the spirit, sunshine. Acceptin is the first step."

Mei moved to lightly smack McCree in the back of the head before placing a tentative hand on Lena's slumped shoulder.

"You are NOT stupid. You've been at this for hours and are just tired."

Winton gave a grunt of agreement.

"Mei's got a point. It's already 2:30 and we can always try again tomorrow."

Lena groaned and flopped her head against the pillow below her.

"That's what you said yesterday. I can't sleep anyways."

Gerard gave the brunette a very pointed look"

"Because Willow's not here or because you just wanna be stubborn."

Lena shook her head to try and fight off the yawn she could feel building. However if she honestly thought she was fooling anyone she really must have been too tired to see how much it was showing on her face.

"I could run a marathon if I bloody well wanted to...."

Lucio brightened up a bit at that.

"Then how's bout a quick race? Just to the courtyard and back?"

The courtyard that was a solid 5 miles away. Whether or not he was serious or simply calling her bluff, Lena quickly backpedaled out of the idea of moving all together.

"Uh- yeah that's a no go, love. Zarya whipped my ass- sorry Ang, my butt at the gym yesterday and I think my legs are still recovering."

Poor excuse, but plausible enough. Even Mei gave a polite nod of understanding. As though it wouldnt surprise her at all if that was the case.

McCree gave a snort at Lucio's sad puppy dog face before kicking his chair back with a huff.

"Well if the star child of OU aint in the mood for a race then this right here is the end ladies and gentleman."

Lena flopped her face back into her pillow while reaching her hand out to swat at Jesse's general direction. She managed to barely graze his prosthetic, but no where near hard enough for him to even feel.

"I hate when you call me that!"

"Why? Am I wrong? The billboards on 17th, 33rd, and 59th would say otherwise."

Gerard and Winston couldn't help snicker at that. Each moved to mimic the legendary photo op of Tracer's victory at the NCAA track meet two years ago.

It had been the first time that a sophomore in the history of the tournament had ever gone home with so many first place titles. The fact that she had continued to hold the victories over the next 2 years was a bonus.

The caption "Don't let your future fall behind, join the race to apply to Overwatch University today!" Had been bolded over Lena's victory pose and posted across half of the country before the young girl could so much as blink. Even Winston's nickname for her had been a hit with the PR department, thanks to his dad's recommendation of it being used. 

The school's website had the words "Our star athlete TRACER" had been imbedded over their sports section ever since.

She was the quote on quote "poster child" for the University. Go figure such a title gave her friends more than enough ammunition against her.

Lena took her pillow and chucked it at Gerard and Winston, who both were still mimicking her finger gunned salute to the cheering crowd.

"Hardy har har. You two should have a comedy act."

Winston smiled as he easily caught the projectile. Gerard stuck his tongue out. 

"In our defense, Willow thinks its funny too! And you never throw pillows at her for laughing."

Hana, who had at some point gone to the kitchen and made them all tea, returned with a god sent less jittery disposition. She did however snort, having caught the tail end of the conversation.

"Oh please, Willow could rob a bank for no reason at all and Tracer would still be waiting there in the getaway car like a puppy wagging its tail."

Lena flipped the younger girl off, but otherwise gave no denial to the claim.

"And you know what else? After almost two years I've still never seen you two lovebirds actually fight?"

Gerard leaned back in his chair with a laugh before taking a swig of the tea Hana handed over to him.

"Physically? Or with words? Because I can assure you if Willow's anything like her sister, she would win in both."

Hana raised a single eyebrow.

"Words I can believe easily, but when have you ever lost to Amelie in a physical fight?"

"Long story short, sparring with your girlfriend sounds like fun until she's drop kicks your chest. I was out of practice for two days and coach nearly tore me a new one. Willow, I can only imagine, would be 100x more lethal."

Hana nodded only once before the two raised their glasses in the air. A mock cheers to their agreement.

Lena gaped between them both for a moment before crossing her arms. The barest pull of a pout already crossing her face.

"How do you two know she'd win? Physically maybe, but I'll have you know we actually use to argue a lot when we first started dating!"

Angela, who had been content to quietly sipping her drink in peace, had to cover her mouth to keep her laughter contained as she all but fell over herself.

The cup would have dropped from her hand had Mei not been there to steady her.

"You are so full of it Oxton! The whip was cracked before Willow's skin had even begun to regain it's color."

"I did not!"

"Yes you did! Winston and I were with you every day at the hospital, and you practically drooling over her from day 1."

Lena moved to cover her artificial heart as though she had been wounded.

"To be betrayed in such a way. Mercy how could you?"

The Pre-Med chuckled before waving her hand in dismissal.

"Please, you two can't even call the first month after you met dating. All you did was talk her ear off while she glared at you from afar."

Winston snorted, but quickly covered it up with a cough. McCree though was far less apologetic for his laughter.

"Laugh all you want! I still got my girl."

Jesse rolled his eyes.

"And to think it only took, what? Four months before SHE made the first move? Talk about leavin a gal to hang dry, Oxton." 

Tracer's ears burned along with the entirety of her neck.

"She did not- I- I did my share of flirting!"

"And according to the nurse who walked in, she had you wrapped around her finger in more ways then one."

Angela was a kind person. She could make jokes just like everyone else. But there was one hell of a line that McCree always managed to cross with...everything.

Had Mercy not completely smacked the hell out of the back of Jesse's head, Lena worried how on earth she would ever explain the eternal blush staining her face.

Hospital rooms, it was discovered, were not as private as Tv dramas would lead you to believe. 

It was also seemingly frowned upon by many to have two high risk for injury patients on top of one another. Or so the nurse who had come in to check their skyrocketed vitals had said as she unwound their tangled IV chords.

Jessie, with a now aching head held his hands up in defeat before apologizing in earnest to Angela. Who accepted only because of how much her hand ached. 

It wasn't the first time such a scene had happened, and it most certainly wouldnt be the last. As much as they drove each other up a wall, the two were probably closer than any stranger would ever assume.

"I was just bustin your balls Oxton, hope I didn't over step."

It was silent for a beat. Until Lena smiled her usual smile and held out her fist.

"Aw rubbish, love. Im sure ive said worse about you and Hanz."

The two smiled before bumping fists in truce. Lena even made a show of pretending that McCree's prosthetic had hurt her hand. It didn't of course, but it was still funny to those dorks.

Hana smiled brightly at the display and moved to nudge Mercy's arm. 

The blonde waited another moment before she was once again sure everything was alright and gently patting the spot on Jesse's head that she had mercilessly, pun intended, whacked. The blonde had always been protective of Lena. Of all of them honestly. It made the majority of them all pity McCree's unfortunate habit of having no filter.

Mei, who had begun to collect everyone's now empty tea cups, smiled before a sing song tone entered her voice.

"Tracer and McCree sitting in a tree. You two might make Willow jealous one day."

Lucio, who stood to help with the collecting of the cups, raised a teasing eyebrow.

"Cause nothing says romance like a gay gal and gay guy bumping fists."

Gerard mockingly held his fingers in a way that made it look like he were peering through a camera.

"You never know. Hollywood's full of potential nowadays. Will Lena marry Willow or her gay best friend?! I can see the Lifetime movie now."

Hana couldn't help herself as she stuttered to speak past her sudden giggles.

"N-no better yet, imagine Jess, in an 80's western film dress. A-an Hanzo coming to save him from marrying Lena, the town's gayest gay-"

Winston and Gerard fell over themselves as laughter ripped through them each. Angela tried her best to conceal her amusement, despite the quick snort that fell from her mouth before she could help it. Lucio, Mei, and Lena were practically on the ground holding their sides.

Jessie gave them all a double standing ovation of two middle fingers before actually giving in and laughing himself.

Maybe it was the fact that it was 3 in the morning and they all were in some way exhausted, but the laughter didn't stop for a long while after. 

When it finally did, everyone saw that Hana and Lena had quite literally passed out on the floor.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So who here likes romantic football game clichés because next updates gonna be super hella gay


	3. Let's Go OWU

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Go team woo

"And with that ladies and gentleman, we end the third quarter with the Talon Terrors leading OWU's Heroes with a whopping 14 point lead."

The crowd all seemed to harmonize with one another as fan after fan boo'ed towards the commentator's box. It wasn't the poor sap stuck up their's fault the home team was getting crushed, but being the one who had to constantly reminded a rowdy crowd that they were getting their asses handed to them on the final playoff game of season left anyone with a target on their back.

A few spectators were even going as far as to throw popcorn and trash at whoever was stuck behind the glass. 

Hana had tried to join in the fray, but Pharah was quick to yank her back down by the collar of her purple jacket. 

"None of that. Its already bad enough right now without you hurling an open Mt. Dew across the stands."

The younger girl huffed a visible breath out into the cold end of fall air before moving to sit back down and recap her soda. 

A firm pout in place as she crossed her arms.

"It would have looked awesome."

Fareeha kept her gaze focused ahead. 

"False. It would have probably ended up hitting someone who'd be pissed off and come down here to kick your ass."

Hana snorted before elbowing the taller girl in her side.

"Chill out, you act like you and Trace wouldn't totally come back me in a fight."

Despite keeping a hawklike eye on Angela, who was talking with Zarya and Mei away from the other cheerleaders on the field, Fareeha couldn't help the small chuckle of amusement that broke past her lips.

"And what makes you so sure of that?"

"Cause you looovvveee me."

"Not as far as I can kick you."

Hana threw her now empty soda bottle at Pharah's head. To which the latter dodged with almost laughable ease.

"Liar. You nearly took off that loser's head last week when he shouldered McCree."

"Jesse's practically family, of course I'd protect HIM in a fight. Ang too, but dorky gremlins are another story."

An almost betrayed look overcame Hana's face as she viciously began to slap at Pharah's shoulder. To which the taller brunette snickered.

"You said you would never speak about that again!"

"Baby pictures of you savagely tearing apart an entire bag of chips tend to keep me humored for a long while. Forgive me for lying."

D.Va huffed the bangs out if her face before crossing her arms.

"I never should have let my mother friend any of you on facebook....traitor."

"Gremlin"

Hana stuck her tongue out.

"Whatever. Oxton, you would back me in a fight right?"

Lena, who had been preoccupied with watching Winston and Gerard get chewed out by the football coach towards the right half of the bench, turned at the sound of her name.

"What's that?"

The Korean girl rolled her eyes before snapping her fingers directly in front of the other's face.

"Earth to Oxton. Stop ogling the cheerleaders and tune in."

Hana's lips tugged upwards as she pulled her winter coat tighter around herself. Her and Pharah were more than comfortably dressed for the freezing end of fall near winter air, but Lena only had her usual brown flight jacket wrapped loosely across her shoulders. 

It had practically been on the bleachers more so then the thin girl's form all night. How in god's name she wasn't dying of hypothermia was anyone's guess.

"Im not ogling anyone! I would never!"

"Yeah right, and Pharah totally comes to these games to watch actual football and not stare at Mercy's ass in uniform all night."

Fareeha's entire face flushed bright scarlet as she finally tore her gaze away from her girlfriend and moved to clamp a hand over Hana's mouth.

"WE ARE IN PUBLIC! Can you not just shout tha- CHRIST!?! Did you just lick my hand?!"

Pharah tore her palm off of the younger girl's face as though she had been burned. Staring in shock between Lena's wide eyes and Hana's triumphant face. Suddenly the smaller two burst into laughter at the Egyptian's outraged look.

Should there ever be an acceptable time to kill her moronic roommates, it would have been then.

But revenge always seemed to have to wait because suddenly a new voice called out from the distance.

"Guys! Hey over here!"

Genji Shimada was helping push a small stranger in a wheelchair up the farther most ramp by the edge of the bleachers.

The young seemingly asian man had a friendly smile on his face, as he calmly waved ahead to the girls. His hair was barely visible because of how closely it was cut to his head and there was a heavy looking yellow and red blanket laid across his lap and chair.

What caught all of the girls' attention though was Genji's favorite green jacket wrapped firmly around the other man's shoulders. Seemingly to protect him from the cold, despite the multiple layers.

In an instant, Lena was on her feet and half way across the stands to assist the duo. Pharah and D.Va quickly following behind.

"Genj! Need a hand?"

The younger Shimada waved the offer off as he slung one of his arms around Tracer's shoulder.

"It's all good. Guys, this is Zenyatta. He's the transfer I met last semester that I was telling you about."

"Greetings! It's lovely to finally meet you all!"

Hana smiled a bit in remembrance as she waggled her eyebrows.

"The one from Nepal you couldn't stop gushing about?"

Genji shot her a small glare past Zenyatta's shoulder, to which the smaller girl and Tracer both laughed.

"Yeah, he moved to the states with his brothers and is gonna be rooming with Lucio and I as of this week."

Pharah gave a low whistle as she moved to cross her arms knowingly. 

Genji, despite being an absolute sweetheart 99% of the time, had always been a playboy at heart. His record for broken hearts of both the male and female students he had attended high school with was practically legendary given their family's fortune. 

Yet ever since the "accident" at the start of his first year at OU, he had been all but a complete reclusive to anyone who he had not been friends with before hand. He wouldn't let just anyone move in to his dorm room. Lucio alone had taken a year of friendship to convince. 

It was blatantly clear that the Japanese boy was crushing hard at the moment. Whether or not he realized as much yet was unknown.

It was cute really.

Pharah gave the wheelchair bound man a soft smile before placing her hands together with familiar ease and bending her head down in a small bow.

"Namastē ,tapā'īṁ bhēṭna yasakō rāmrō"

(Hello, It's nice to finally meet you)

Everyone's heads nearly snapped with how quickly they all turned to peer over at Fareeha

Zenyatta on the other hand had an almost unfairly adorable smile on his face.

"Tapā'īṁ nēpālī bōlna?"

(You speak Nepali?)

The Egyptian woman nodded.

"Hō. Ma javāna hum̐dā mērō āmā dhērai varṣa kō lāgi tyahām̐ taināta thiyō"

(Yes. My mother was stationed there for several years when I was young.)

The younger man's face seemed to light up even more so as he bowed his head once before giving Pharah's hand a kind shake.

"Pyārā! Malā'ī āśā cha hāmī asala mitra huna sakcha. Genji malā'ī tapā'īṁ sabai rāmrō kurāharū tara kēhī bhannubhayō cha!"

(Lovely! I hope we can be good friends then. Genji has told me nothing but good things about you all!"

Pharah laughed at that before returning to english once more and nodding her head towards the spiky haired boy.

"Im sure he did, always a charmer."

Zenyatta chuckled a bit as Genji's face went bright red. Lena covered her laugh with a cough quickly before patting the youngest Shimada's shoulder in sympathy. 

"Now you know how I felt when she spoke french to Willow after our third date."

D.Va gave the taller woman a questioning look.

"Exactly how many languages do you even speak?"

"Five if you count english."

Genji, who was still a little slack jawed, shook his head once before continuing on his trek of pushing his new roommate's chair up towards the edge of the stands.

"That's impressive, I'll give you that. You feel like teaching me some?"

"Of course. Anything for the young lovers."

The Japanese boy slapped Pharah's side once before ducking back to avoid her retailiation. Luckily Zenyatta had been too engrossed in watching the football game's hyper active school section to notice.

After a few moments of readjusting towards the handicapped section of the stands, the group sat together once more.

Zenyatta smiled at the field with astonishment. Only to be drawn over towards the cheerleaders acrobatic stunts with an shocked look.

"Forgive me for asking, but is the girl over there your girlfriend, Lena? I believe Genji showed me a picture of you and her once."

Everyone remained stone still for a solid ten seconds before each burst into fits of hysterics. 

Genji was practically bent over with laughter while Pharah and D.Va clung onto each other's arms for support. Lena nearly had chocked on her drink once the realization had set in.

After wiping away a stray tear in her eye, the british woman gave the poor confused looking transfer a smile.

"Sorry love, nothing wrong with your question. That there's #44's gal, Amelie."

The Nepal man seemed puzzled for a minute before peering back at the cheerleaders and then looking back at brunette with a quizzical look.

"She is not the one you date then?"

"Nope, youre thinkin of her twin sister. A right definition of polar opposite if they're has ever been one."

A small aha moment seemed to clear over Zenyatta's face before he gave a sheepish smile and bow of his head."

"My apologies then."

"Oi, nothing to apologize for! People only can ever tell the difference by the way they act anyhow."

D.Va scoffed.

"For example, Willow would probably rather kill a man then be caught dead in a cheer uniform. Despite how many times we're all sure Tracer begged her to."

A firm slap upside her head caused the younger sophomore to send a nearly fatal glare at Lena, who pretened to see nothing at all.

"What Hana means is, my girl aint much for the peppy stuff like Amelie is. Her and Gerard, the line backer there to the left, have been dating since high school. They met at a charity fundraiser."

Zenyatta seemed to smile at this as an almost calm aura overcame his body. 

"That sounds wonderful! Did you and Willow meet at the same function?"

Pharah chocked on nothing but the cold night air as she began to muffle her laughter into her jacket sleeve.

Lena kept her smile as bright as the stadium lights despite the nearly impossible to see blush that stained her freckled cheeks.

"We met in a hospital just outside of Gibraltar actually. I had been in intensive care for months because my heart didn't quite tick right. Willow on the other hand had gotten into a scuffle with some punks that mistook her for Amelie. The buggers were trying to get back at Gerard for this or that and accidentally knocked Willow through the ice at a nearby lake. Nearly froze to death she did, her skin was all blue and cold, like a popsicle."

The horrified look that crossed the young Nepal man's face made Lena wave her hands quickly.

"She was fine, love! Just took awhile to recover was all, she wasn't even that upset about it really. If anything the whole thing pissed her off because the nerves in her right arm and legs were a bit damaged. Nothing a little PT couldn't help, and hey it made us roomies for nearly a 6 month!"

"Would have been longer had Lena not jumped her in bed and traumatized a nurse who walked in on them going at it."

The many shades of red Tracer was able to turn in such a short amount of time had Pharah and Genji clutching onto their sides with laughter.

While Hana merely nodded at Zenyatta's face as with a "yup this is how it always goes" look. The poor boy was nearly as red as Lena.

"Oi! There's no need to bring all that up! We were both fine and we apologized to the nurse."

"Before or after she bleached her eyes?"

Hana high fived Pharah with a grin before a sudden tap at her shoulder made her turn around.

By the edge of the bleachers stood a small girl with a nervous grin on her face. She was clutching onto a piece of paper with one hand while the other hung desperately onto what Hana could only assume was the girl's her mother's. 

"I'm so sorry to interrupt you all, but you wouldn't happen to be Ms. D.Va Song would you?"

Tracer, who praised all the gods for taking the focus off of her, gave a small whoop of cheer as Hana rubbed at the back of her neck. Suddenly caught off guard.

"Yeah that's me um, are you guys fans?"

The young girl's entire face lit up as she excitedly moved her crumbled paper away from her chest to reveal that she was wearing a pink top with the pro gamer's emblem dead center.

"I- I'm a really big fan! I've seen all your competitions an-and we had a hero contest in school, a-and I wrote bout you and how I wanted to be the best at games too cause I can't run cause my- my Papa says my lungs arent all that good, but my teacher said my paper was really good! I wanted to get your autograph so I can show my class!"

The mother was smiling softly at the excited way her daughter spoke, while Hana herself seemed to positively melt despite the cold night air.

"Well I can't be sending my number 1 fan back with just some piece of paper."

In one fluid motion, D.Va had reached back into the book bag by her feet, and pulled out one of her, MANY, personalized handhelds. 

She quickly popped out the chip with her memory card inside and turned the pink cover over to sign the back with the girl's black marker.

"Every pro's gotta start somewhere. Just make sure you stay in school and keep practicing okay?"

The little girl nearly fell back when Hana had held out the small handheld for her to take. Suddenly the young girl tore herself away from her mother's hand and hugged D.Va's sitting form.

"THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU-"

"Any time kiddo. You keep doing what makes you happy, and you'll always be winning."

Eventually the mother, after giving her own flood of thanks and praise, along with several pictures of the two giving peace signs, was able to get her daughter back onto the ground and lead them both away. Each smiling brightly at one another in excited chatter.

Hana turned back to see all of her friends looking at her with shit eater grins.

"What!"

Tracer chuckled and wiped a mock tear from her eye.

"Super star and closeted sweetheart. Brings a tear to my eye."

"Shove it, fish an chips."

Pharah gave a snort of laughter before bending to ruffle the young gamer's hair.

"That was way too sweet. You probably just made their whole year."

Genji was all but beaming as he nodded his head.

"You're such a softie. I can't believe you gave her your portable. That was the cutest thing I've ever seen."

Zenyatta gave a light laugh at Hana as she tried to swat away at Pharah's hand while also get Lena to stop laughing.

The Nepal transfer then turned back to Genji.

"I take it that Ms. Song here is somewhat famous?"

"Somewhat? Try iconic in the gaming world. Before she transferred here she was ranked as THE pro gamer to face in any competition."

Lena nodded her agreement as she noogied the top of the smaller brunette's head. Her voice taking on an almost poetic tone.

"We here at Overwatch Uni can't begin to express our gratefulness that THE D.Va choose our institution to attend to further her education. The Dean was practically played on repeat saying that for 6 months after Hana arrived. The paparazzi nearly drove one of our professors to drop his tenure!"

Everyone gave a laugh at the memory, as Hana struggled to release her head from Tracer's hold. Her hair probably was close to a tumble weed by now.

"LET ME GO! Lena you're so annoying!"

"Im just so proud of you! Ms. Song, how do you manage to balance stardom with our institution's crushing everyday demands? Does the ungodly amount of soda ya drink truly help?"

"I swear to god I will call Willow right now!"

Tracer gave a mock gasp as she ruffled up the brunette's hair even more.

"Ooo! Is that suppose to scare me?"

"It certainly should, Chérie."

Every head turned at once to peer over to where Willow Lacroix herself stood. Her high ponytail, black peacoat, and heels gave her an air of impossibly powerful beauty.

To many they would see the small smile on her lips and tone in her voice as nothing more than borderline amusement. But Lena knew that particular look too well. There was a warning. It was one of promise, of interest and honestly if translates fully "I had a really good day and now I'm in the mood remember that for later hon hon hon".

But that all could wait till they were back in the cozy safety of their apartment. Whether they ended up against the actual bed, door, wall, counter, or floor though was anyone's guess.

The small brunette wasted no time in hopping from her seat to all but throw her arms around the other woman. Willow didn't budge in the slightest upon impact and simply moved her own arms around Tracer's waist to return the gesture.

"There ya are! What kept ya so long, love?"

"Madame Amari required my help grading a few left over essays from last week. Sorry to have kept you waiting, mon petite pup."

Pharah snickered at the nickname, but otherwise gave an understanding nod of her head at the mention of her mother. For as decorated and in control the senior Amari had been during the war, you didn't just teach three high performance classes at the nation's top university without sometimes getting a little held back by the work load. 

No one could outmatch Willow though when it came to Ana picking a suitable TA.

The Lacroix was practically her protégée, and Pharah couldn't have been happier for the distraction. Willow served as a nearly god sent conversation flip for every time her mother's desired to know if she and Mercy were having any problems, being safe, considered marriage, etc.

Speaking of which, Pharah turned her head just far enough to see that Angela was cheering along with all of the other cheerleader wildly. The camera replayed an impressive side tackle of Morrison to Talon's quarterback Gabe, giving the Heroes, it appeared, one final turnover.

The score had, at some point during all the hustle and bustle become tied, and now OWU seemed to be looking up in terms of getting the next field goal.

The other's seemed to notice as well because Hana was practically jumping out of her seat to join in with the crowds excited hollering. Genji chuckled once before also joining in and handing Zenyatta a loose rally towel to wave. To which the smaller man did adorably if that was even possible.

"I trust that this means we are doing well?"

Lena cheered once, bouncing on the tips of her toes as she hooted along with her friends. 

"Damn right! We get this kick and we are going right through to the finals, mate!"

Willow shook her head fondly before sitting at the last available spot next to Zenyatta. Already clearly disinterested with the game despite the electricity in the air.

"Don't worry, I don't understand any of it either."

The small Nepal man gave a chuckle before raising his rally towel with a small swing.

"It is nice to not be alone then in my confusion. It is quite amazing though to see everyone so excited."

Willow's eyes briefly drifted over to where Tracer had Hana on her back. The two had gotten closer to the stand's railing and were now screaming for the team to allow Lucio to "kick the damn ball already".

The pale woman smiled softly before moving to sneak a quick picture of her girlfriend's laughing face. Luckily enough, her camera also managed to catch the exact moment that carefree excitement turned into unadulterated joy over seeing the game ball sail straight down the center of the opposing team's posts.

"Yes, I suppose it is."


End file.
